A Tale of Three Islands

Driving down the Georgia coast (on the I95 mostly), we sidetracked to three offshore islands, separated from the mainland by the so called "intracoastal waterway" (which runs virtually the full length of the east coast), and all connected by bridges.

The first was Tybee Island, directly east of Savannah. The Atlantic side of this island was pure surfie seediness. The town was sun-blistered, last painted some time ago, and wind blown. The shops (mostly closed for the season) were cheap and many were dim looking bars. The people in the street were friendly, and always asked us what we thought about the surf that day (the surf was grotty, but we were polite). One guy realised we were Australian (at first he thought we were from New Jersey, based on our car's plates), and when we knew who Kelly Slater was, became very friendly indeed - "Aussies are so in touch with the ocean". There is no where to park on Tybee Island without having to feed parking meters a quarter for 15 minutes, not at the lighthouse, not on the beach, not at the shops. You can't blame the City for trying to make money from day trippers, but this process was very annoying.

Tybee Island "downtown" has an interesting pavillion and fishing pier which runs well out into the ocean. We realised that there are hundreds of piers like this on both the east and west coasts of the USA, but we can't think of a single example in Australia, a pier which runs out into the unprotected ocean, not in a bay or inlet.

The second island was Saint Simon Island, east of Brunswick. It was like a different world to Tybee, much tidier and more upmarket. It's quite a big island with lots of residential development, and very pretty indeed, yet another beautiful Atlantic lighthouse. In the village area we were able to buy a cappucino and sit outside in the warmish sun to enjoy it (!!!). Plenty of free parking here. Guided by a free map we'd picked up in the village, we explored the island and drove onto the adjacent Sea Island (a long spit of sand criss crossed by 56 streets running to the beach) only to find the entire island is a private, gated community, and we were on the outside!

The third island was Jekyll Island, quite petite, and really just south of St Simon, but you have to go back into Brunswick to get around to it, crossing Saint Simon Sound on one of this coast's many magnificent bridges. This island was totally different again - it used to be a private club for the extremely wealthy up until the 1940's, and even though it has now been opened up to the public, it very well preserves its elegance, and many of the original club buildings are now preserved as a glamorous hotel and shops etc. Jekyll has a magnificent beach along the full length of its Atlantic coast, and development has been very well managed here. We had a good meal at Blackbeard's Restaurant (a well known pirate who once plied these seas), one of the few places we have found with excellent views of the ocean.